Vopium Review - Cheap International Calls Seamlessly Over A Mobile Phone

Easy To Use Mobile International Calling Service

Vopium is a mobile VoIP service that offers cheap international calls through GSM and VoIP, without necessarily having a data plan (GPRS, 3G etc.) or Wi-Fi connection. If you do have any of the latter, you can make free calls to other users using the same networks. Vopium also offers new users 30 minutes free calls and 100 free SMS for trial.

• Cheap international calls over your mobile phone.
• Seamless integration of the application with the handset, hence ease of use.
• Automatic selection of network, hence no dependence on data plan or Wi-Fi network.
• Supported on more than 500 mobile phones and handsets.

The Cons

• Service available to people in only a handful of countries.
• There are some technical issues with the procedure of downloading and installing the application.

Vopium is for people who want to save on international calls. What Vopium will cost will depend on how you use it.

If you use it from your home country (the area where you have registered your number with Vopium) to call an international destination, whether mobile or landline, you are charged the GSM local cost in your area plus Vopium's international cost to the destination, which is more often around a couple of Euro cents. That amounts to only around 10% the price of a normal international call, on average.

Your calls can be completely free if you are within a Wi-Fi network and are calling another Vopium user who is also using Wi-Fi. For that, you need to upgrade the application on your mobile phone, which is to suggest that Vopium is not primarily a Wi-Fi or 3G service.

Then there are the service plans:

Reach out: This plan allows you to call any phone to the most popular destinations for 13.27 EUR per month. You get 1000 minutes plus 100 international SMS messages for only 13.27 EUR a month.

Call Pakistan: This plan and the one below are intended for ethnic minorities. Vopium gives you 250 minutes to call any network in Pakistan including mobile for only 13.27 EUR per month.

Call Turkey: Vopium gives you 500 free minutes to call any fixed line number in Turkey for only 13.27 EUR per month.

Call Back: This allows you to split one expensive call into two inexpensive ones. You have log on to your account on the service's website and enter the two numbers, which are dialed and the two phones are virtually connected.

Vopium works only in a handful of countries in Europe and just launched on beta in the US and Canada. The way the system works, which is nonetheless quite interesting, makes it quite restrictive. They have VoIP gateways to route users' calls from the GSM network to an IP network, which is how they can make international calls that cheap. When you make an international call, your GSM network carries the call to one of Vopium's gateways where it is relayed to destination through the Internet.

Another interesting thing is that the service's application automatically detects your network disposition and accordingly selects the most profitable type of service. For example, if you are within a Wi-Fi network, your mobile phone automatically uses it for free cheap calls. If you are making an international call in a GSM cell phone network, the GSM network is used. Likewise, there can be automatic configurations for roaming and other network scenarios.

Requirements

You need to download and install an application before using the service. You can download it directly from your mobile phone. Also, you need to have a mobile phone model that supports the application. Vopium does very well in this field compared to many other key players on the market - it works on more than 500 mobile phone and handset models.

Vopium does better than most other services in making it much easier to dial numbers. You don't need to create a number each time, and you don't need to launch the application (which is finally not a softphone, properly said) each time you need to make a call. You just have to dial the recipient's number on your phone's interface, like you would for a normal GSM call, and the call is automatically routed to where it belongs, giving you the best price option. Also, the international rates are very competitive. Then, it gives the big advantage of not requiring a data plan or Wi-Fi network to make cheap calls. So, with what you actually have, i.e. your mobile phone with a SIM card, you can start making very cheap international calls.

On the downside, Vopium exists in only a handful of European countries and just entered the US and Canada. That's a quite representative part of the VoIP market, but very restrictive as well. You know you can use the service only if your country is in the drop-down list of countries during registration.

Vopium is often complimented for the quality of its Wi-Fi calls. Other mobile calls have satisfactory quality, according to users.